Ice Cream Layer Cake

Okay so, y'all totally flatter me. I got questions on fb and instagram about Nathan's birthday cake, which, haaaaa, when y'all see that it's basically a glorified box mix that just got stacked with some other stuff during several trips to the freezer, you will be less impressed. 

But here it is anyway, behold the ice cream cake info:

1.) Make the cakes. I made three 9-inch cake layers. I just used the sour cream white cake recipe I always do, which starts with a box mix. He requested blue, so we made it blue. And then I cut off the tops to flatten them, and frozen them in freezer bags for several hours. (Confession: I burned the sh!t out of the first three layers while I was making his birthday video and not paying attention, so I had to do them over the next day. Don't do that.)

2.) Layer with ice cream. I softened some ice cream (half an hour, til you can almost stir it) and layered it with the cakes in an 8-inch springform pan. (The internet told me to do a deep springform one inch smaller than the cake pans, since they shrink a bit when cooking, and you want a tight fit for the springform mold. Do that.) (The internet also told me to put a sheet of parchment paper down in the bottom of the pan before stacking the cakes in, to make it easier to move to a plate later. Do that too.) 

The top layer of cake stacked sort of on top of the pan, which was fine. Then I wrapped it all up in saran wrap and froze it for another few hours. I don't have a picture of what that looked like (I only took these pics for soliciting text praise, not recipe posting) ("recipe" hahahaha *wipes tear*) so just use your imagination: top cake layer sticking out on top, it's fine.

3.) Whipped cream frosting. The internet told me (are you sensing a theme here?) to use just whipped cream as frosting that buttercream doesn't taste good with ice cream cake, since it's much sweeter and it's jarring. Also, butter doesn't stick to frozen ice cream very well, because duh. 

So I made some whipped cream and sweetened it a bit (a few spoonfuls of powdered sugar) and added some vanilla, and it worked great. I frosted it and stuck it back in the freezer.

4.) Ganache. In one of the ice cream cake videos we watched, Nathan saw one that was finished with a ganache, and he wanted that. But the video was very unhelpful ("and then, frost and top however you like, and serve chilled!") and so I did a LOT of brainstorming on ganache. I needed it thin enough to pour over the top (yet thick enough not to totally run off), yet not so warm that it would make the whipped cream fall apart. And not so sweet that it would taste jarring, like I had been warned about the buttercream. 

So! I used bittersweet chocolate, chopped it up super finely so it would melt fast without the cream needing to get too hot, and then I used two parts cream to one part chocolate. And I stirred it while it cooled forever and ever (seriously like an hour) before I poured it over the top. It worked great! Not too sweet, just the right thickness, I give myself an A+.

5.) Sprinkle and serve. I put sprinkles on and put it back in the freezer til it was time to eat. We only thawed it about five minutes before we tried to put candles in, and that wasn't enough. It needs 10-15 minutes at least, to be soft enough to cut and serve.

Nathan loved it; it's exactly what he wanted, so it's a win for that alone.

Festive Two-Ingredient Cocktails

If you're like me, sometimes you want a drinky drink that tastes more festive than pouring a beer or wine, yet doesn't take any more work than that. Enter: the two-ingredient cocktail. Everyone has an arsenal of these, right? Besides just rum + diet, because we aren't 22 anymore? (Haaaa like I will never not want a rum + diet at the beach.)

Anyway here are my favorites from this winter:

Lime vodka + cranberry sierra mist. A classic, right? It was this year's Bumgarner Christmas drink of choice.

Fresh apple cider + Fireball. This is just a poor man's version of a good cider cocktail. Why does artificial cinnamon flavor taste so good? I don't know.

We have been back and forth about whether to do this warm or iced. I vote iced.

Sparking grape juice + gin. Born of a lack of other groceries. Surprisingly delicious.

And yes, if you're the type of person who mixes these things together, you're also the type of person who uses a straw in a wine glass.

Catching up: a Birthday, a Missing Middle Kid, Coffee, Sunglasses, More

I am having A Week. But a lot of it is unbloggable and wow is that the most annoying first sentence of a blog post ever, or what? Just mental health stuff and no one sleeping well and missing Marky while our schedules aren't matching up great, and heavy job/work things (not mine) (obvs) oh and PS missing the crap out of Anneliese, who is visiting grandparents all week. Fine (good!) in and of itself, but considering I had never been away from her for more than five-ish days, and have now spent two FULL WEEKS of the last three apart from her, IT GIVES ME THE MOMMY ACHES.

Okay blah blah woe is me I will shut up.

So, blogging. Right. This is the part where I say some things about what's new around here.

Well we celebrated Charlotte's birthday with swimming.

And cake and ice cream and presents. Except wait actually, no ice cream. But there were presents and more presents, because we keep finding things we forgot to give her. Which is either a sign of spoiling her because she's the baby, or being unorganized and unprepared because she's the baby. Probably both. (Brad is reading this and nodding in agreement. THIRD BABIES, UNITE.) At any rate, she had several days of presents.

And the most random cake I have made in a while. I had it in my head to make a banana cake, but not, like, from scratch or anything (let's not get carried away) so I used a box of white cake mix (with funfetti, because Anneliese was involved so obviously) with some mashed up bananas and a box of banana pudding mix. And made a filling layer from what was left of the pudding mix. And then put purple frosting on top (because Anneliese). With coconut extract in it (because I don't know).

Happy random banana tropi-cake Charlotte!

Hm I think I will call it that from now on. As if I could make it again, having no real recipe and writing nothing down.

So, our week.

I took Nathan and Charlotte to the kids museum where it was LAUGHABLY EASY with just those two. I have a twitter friend whose N-1 theory of parenting says that no matter how many kids you are used to dealing with, when you remove one, it is a breeze. She is right. She was right a few weeks ago when it was Nathan gone (and I usually consider him the easiest these days! Still! Easier without even him!) and she is right now with Anneliese gone. Simple. Quiet. I never thought two kids could be so easy.

However, EASIER does not mean BETTER, see aforementioned missing the crap out of my middle child, Anneliese-sized hole in our family, yes yes anyway we went to the kiddie museum and Charlotte tried on all the safety goggles before selecting the perfect ones to wear while building a tower (girl has never met a pair of eyewear she didn't love) and Nathan somehow sawed a real piece of wood with a real saw before I noticed I should be paying more attention to him than the safety goggle fashion show. MOM OF THE YEAR RIGHT HERE. I should write a book.

Also I  made it to Starbucks, real hot coffee for the first time since before Montreat (where I became addicted to Starbucks in a jar, but that will come in another blog post, another time, when I have the right feelings and words to try to write about Montreat) and so yeah my coffee run was picture-worthy. My bad hair, notsomuch but eh whatevs.

Also have I posted a pic of these sunglasses yet? They are new. I got them in Bethesda, on a random road trip that I also forgot to blog about but hey! I saw Merritt! We ate Thai food! Outside! I slept all night in a lovely hotel, for free! I shopped in a beautiful mall!) Anyway so these shades are a fancy-ish take on the wire ones I picked up a year ago and thought I loved but only because I hadn't met these new ones yet. These are better and perfect and awesome and I spent way too much on them and I don't even care. They came in a  bag with perfume-scented tissue paper because I AM CLASSY. I have an emotional relationship with these sunglasses, is what I am saying.

Okay I don't even know what I am blogging about right now.

Happy birthday week, Charlotte! My sunshine!

You make frustrating weeks better.

Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Exactness

I have just eaten (for breakfast, if you must know) the last of the best batch of cookies I have ever made in my life.

But. They kinda were not my own doing.

Okay here's the thing about Another Nathan. He, much like my dear husband and sweet oldest child, is what you'd call a Rule Follower. I am... not what you'd call that. So while I'm a decent cook, my Rule Following shortcomings make me not a great baker. You have to measure to bake well, and I'm notsomuch one with the measuring. I'm a firm believer in eyeballing it.

Well it turns out Another Nathan is a firm believer in doing the recipe exactly as instructed. (Shocking, for a Rule Follower.) But true story: if you do that, you get freaking delicious cookie bars.

They were perfect. The perfect combination of sweet and salty, the perfect combination of crisped up tops and gooey insides, the perfect blend of dough and chips. I cannot say enough good things about these cookies.

Left to my own devices, I would have just thrown in two two eggs, not separating out one of the whites. I would have tossed the unwrapped caramels straight onto the dough in the baking dish, definitely not melted them down first with cream. I would have used whatever salt I had on hand, not the fancy fleur de sel Another Nathan had in his cabinet. I would have just pinched the tiny amounts of those random ingredients I'm not sure do anything anyway -- baking soda and powder and the like. I definitely wouldn't have packed the brown sugar into the measuring cup (!!) -- yes I was wide-eyed. Who actually does that?!

But in his kitchen, I (grudgingly) played by his rules. And let the record show, those cookie bars were awesome. 

(Let the record also show: dude loves him some Cheerios. Even hoards them a little. Yeah I said it.)

Recipe: Chocolate chip salted caramel cookie bars. Go make some yourself and you'll see their perfection.  Follow the directions exactly though, or I will sic our Rule Follower best friend on you.

Lego Cake

In anticipation of Another Nathan's birthday today [note 1/18: not today], a couple of days ago I was discussing with my Nathan what kind of cake we should make.  In Nathan's world, what kind usually means what color, so I was expecting him to say, like... green or something.

Nope. Know what he said?  I want it to be a lego cake. 

Ummm.  Ok? 

(And then he did indeed say it should be green.)

Nathan and Another Nathan share some weird lego bond that I'm not sure I understand, but they both love* them.  And if my three-year-old is able to recognize something that will make someone else happy (feelings! empathy! understanding other people!) then you can be darned sure I'm going to find it worth a google.

So I did some internetting and it turns out lots and lots of people have made cakes that look like lego bricks.  (But please just take my word for it, don't do a google image search yourself, or you will be way less impressed with how mine came out.)  I even vaguely remembered that my friend Kelley had made a version of some lego cakes last summer. 

So I felt optimistic enough to give it a try.

(Don't laugh at me.)

Nathan was pretty insistent on green, and Another Nathan likes cream cheese icing, so I settled on that because it's white and easy to dye.  And then I picked red velvet cake because A- it goes with cream cheese icing and B- I'm pregnant and it sounded good.  I got some pointers from Macy who makes food for my church (follow that link and you'll know why I asked her) and then we got to baking. 

And it came out very ok!

Considering my lack of baking (and decorating) skillz, I was pretty pleased with the end result.  For sure you can tell it's supposed to be a lego.  Right?  Right?  (Someone validate me please.) 

So here's what we did:

1.) I mixed up a double batch of red velvet cake.  Nathan stirred.  And licked cake batter from the mixer.  I might have helped.  We compared red tongues.

2.) From the batter I made twelve mini muffins (eight for the lego tops, plus a few extra for mistakes) and two smallish sheet cakes.  (One was bigger than the other, because those were the only pans I had.  Don't do that.  Get two of the same pan.  Or bake them separately.  I'm a doofus.)

3.) I cut the cakes into the same size rectangles and then sliced the rounded parts off the tops so they were flat.  3b.) I put the cake scraps in a ziploc bag and feasted on cold cake for the rest of the day.  Do not skip step 3b; it's an essential part of the process.

4.) I dyed the icing green.  Using lots (and lots**) of green gel food coloring.  Nathan stirred.  And licked icing from the mixer.  I might have helped.  We compared green tongues.

5.) I stacked the two cakes together and "glued" them shut with icing and large handfuls of food-processed m&ms.  (Because A- Another Nathan loves m&ms, and B- I'm pregnant and it sounded good.)  The food-processing step isn't really necessary.  It was loud and largely unproductive.  I ended up with a mixture of whole m&ms and m&m powder.  Whatevs.  It still tasted weird good.  And who doesn't love a crunchy surprise in the middle of their lego cakes?  I mean really.

5.) I iced the cakes and tried to get it as smooth as possible (considering I wasn't ever willing to consider fondant).  This involved several spatulas, a spoon and a butcher knife.  And a lot of guesswork.

6.) I flattened the tops of the mini muffins and toothpicked them to the cake.  Then stared at it dumbly for a while before texting a friend to figure out how to ice them smoothly.  Lots more guesswork, and it was pretty smooth.  Ish.  (Good enough.)

7.) Nathan had been asking all day, is it time to add the legos yet? Um, no. We will not be putting legos in the cake. (Apparently what he imagined a lego cake was vs what my google search returned... not the same thing.)  But when he asked to put them on the cake, I figured why not.  So I helped him use some of his legos to "decorate" it.

And he was very very excited to show it to Another Nathan.  Lego cake ftw! 

Happy birthday, friend!  :)

For more pics of Another Nathan's cake and birthday, click here.

*True story: Another Nathan was helping Nathan put together the lego bulldozer he got him for Christmas, and after they were done he let out a happy sigh and said (*this is a direct quote*) look at that, it's still fun!  Ha!  I guess you can never be too old for lego love.

** Enough to make your poop lego-green.  Just sayin'.

Toddler Peas

I haven't mentioned our CSA (farm-share) in a while, but it's going really well so far! Every week, we get a big box of fruits and veggies delivered to us. I don't think we have eaten this much produce in years. Ok, ever. And it's awesome.

I like the challenge of finding new and creative ways to use vegetables that I might not buy at the grocery store (hi there escarole). Heck, I like the challenge of just getting a vegetable on the table every night at dinner (sounds simple, but it's something I had gotten very slack about). And I love that my hope of getting Nathan to branch out in trying new foods is totally coming true!

These are some of the foods that we have gotten in our box so far this summer (and yep, Nathan has tried at least a bit of everything I've used our produce to cook up): tomatoes, squash, kale, cabbage, radishes, onions, zucchini, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, green beans, pole beans, garden peas, escarole, strawberries, endive, cilantro, blueberries, dill, cucumber, bok choy, broccoli, asparagus, edamame, corn, peaches, and even a bottle of strawberry cider. Awesome, huh?

So obviously some of these veggies go over better than others. But even just trying them, I think, is teaching him that it's totally ok to taste something new, and he will come out ok on the other side -- no tantrum necessary. He's even eating new non-produce foods better. The day Nathan ate a plate of broccoli and cheese cubes and blueberries for lunch, and the dinner where he ate a steak sandwich and a bowl of squash caserole, both stand out to me as proof that he's broadening his food horizons.

And Nathan and I are still cooking a lot together. He helps me make dinner almost every night, even if it's just shaking seasonings or doing some stirring for me. He's just so excited and independent when he gets to "cook" for us. I love seeing him like that. I find that my old frustration and stress and sense of overwhelm in the dinner hour is pretty much nonexistent on the days when he helps me (although I might have the causation backwards there, I admit!)... it's becoming one of my favorite ways to spend time with him.

One day he even helped me hull a big basket of peas, and then gobbled them up when I served them alongside his grilled cheese for lunch. (To be fair, he was much more excited on the day we used the strawberries to make sorbet and the blueberries to make a cream cheese pound cake. But still.)

So anyway I thought I'd share the recipe for Nathan's favorite peas. A friend from church made these for us when Anneliese was born, and it's one of my favorite ways to make peas now. They're simple enough to please the palate of a toddler, but flavored enough to not bore grownups. We ate these for lunch for about a week straight last month. :)

Toddler Peas

4 handsfuls of fresh garden peas, hulled and washed
1 tomato, diced
1/4 onion, diced
2 tbsp fat-free italian dressing (or whatever you have)
2 cups chicken or veggie broth (optional)

Steam the peas, tomatoes, and onions in a steamer pot/basket over a pot of simmering water (or broth) for about 20 minutes, until peas are tender. Toss with salad dressing and serve. Easy and good.  So good your kids will eat it!  :) 

Pretzel Chicken

This recipe is such a favorite in our house that I can't believe I haven't posted it yet. Mark has been a big fan since the first time we made it, and Nathan is becoming a fan too, especially because he gets to help make it. And after it's done, he gets to dip it. And say dip it, dip it! a million times. Always a surefire way to please him. :)

This is basically pan-fried chicken that uses pretzels instead of breading. Healthy? Not really. Comfort food that's yummy and crunchy and gets the family to all sit down together? Totally.

This is originally a Rachael Ray idea (you're shocked, I know) and her original is here. Below is the slightly-altered version
our family usually makes.

Pretzel Chicken
1 lb chicken breast tenderloins
2 eggs
splash of milk
vegetable oil (for frying)
two huge handfuls of pretzels
2 eggs
splash of milk
dried thyme
black pepper


Cheddar-Mustard Sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
3 cups grated cheddar
3 tbsp brown mustard

Set oil in pan and heat to medium-high. Grind up pretzels in a food processor (or, if you live with a toddler, put them in a plastic bag and let him crush them with a meat mallet -- this is the preferred method if you like loud banging and happy shrieks). Put them in a shallow bowl and season with thyme and pepper. In another shallow bowl, beat eggs together with a splash of milk. Dip chicken tenders into egg mixture, then dredge through pretzel crumbs. Place into hot oil and fry for about 3-4 minutes per side.

While chicken is cooking, melt flour and butter together in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in milk and stir quickly to eliminate lumps, cook until hot (but be careful -- milk burns easily). Stir in cheese until melted, then add mustard and mix together. If it's still too thick for your liking, throw some beer in there to thin it out. Then drink the rest. You're welcome.

Now dip it. :) And enjoy.

(We usually eat this with rice or mashed potatoes since it makes a lot of extra sauce. But if you are one of those families who likes something green at every meal, then broccoli would go well with that cheddar sauce too.)

Oreos in Almond Bark

This whole cooking with Nathan thing is supposed to be getting him to branch out and be interested in more types of foods. In an ideal situation, more types of healthy foods.

But I saw this idea at Blissfully Domestic (yes, I am domestic enough to read that site, thankyouverymuch) and it looked fun and simple, and even though he's already pretty good about trying foods from the "cookies and sweets" food group, I decided to give it a go.

Y'all, this is was really good idea.

Oreos in Almond Bark
- almond bark
- oreos
- wax paper
- sprinkles or food coloring, if you want

1.) Melt the almond bark. If you're dividing it and doing a couple of different colors, estimate about 2 squares of bark per 12 cookies.

2.) Add food coloring. Light colors work best because apparently the more food coloring you add, the less dippable the bark gets. Skip the red on this one; pink works better.

3.) Dip the oreos, and set on wax paper to cool. If you're adding sprinkles, add them before the bark gets hard (duh).

I made these for our bell choir to enjoy as a valentine treat between church services this morning. I did some pink ones, some white with rainbow sprinkles, and some white with hagelslag, since that's what we had in the house.

Nathan's favorite parts:
- stirring the bark and watching it turn pink
- sprinkling dumping sprinkles on top of the cookies
(warning... toddler + sprinkles = hot mess)
- dipping the cookies in the bark
(remember he is a fan of dipping anything in anything else)
- eating the finished product
- licking the bark spatula
- so yeah he pretty much loved all of it...

This is definitely toddler-friendly "baking" at its finest -- no measuring, no ovens... and lots of stirring and dipping!

(Bonus: it makes dads happy too! Especially when you let them eat the actual cookies and not just look at a picture of them, which I was sorely tempted to do.)

Clearly I deserve some sort of award in food photography, don't you think?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pizza Casserole

When I was visiting Merritt a few weeks ago, she made this yummy pizza casserole that her mom used to make when she was growing up. And since I promised myself I would do more cooking with Nathan to get him more interested in different kinds of food, I thought this would be a good one to try with him. And it was! The recipe is below -- this is what Merritt sent me, plus I snuck in a few extra ingredients along the way (marked with *). Enjoy!

Pizza Casserole
8 oz egg noodles
1 lb ground sausage (we used Jimmy Dean's regular)
15 oz canned tomato sauce
16 oz canned stewed tomatoes (the kind with onions and green peppers)
*14 oz can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes
*8oz v-8 vegetable juice (assuming you have to be sneaky to get some veggies in)
12 slices american cheese
garlic powder, basil, oregano to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Boil noodles and drain. Brown sausage and drain, remove from heat. Add noodles and all other ingredients (except cheese) into sausage pan, stir well. Pour half of the sausage mixture into a 9x13 baking dish, top with six slices of cheese. Our remainder of
sausage mixture into pan and top with the other six slices. Sprinkle with oregano. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Recommended accompanying beverage: Tang.

Nathan loved it, as you can see! He helped stir everything together, and then he helped unwrap and layer the cheese slices. And (as expected), the cheese is mostly what he talked about the whole time we were eating. So I think he really did feel more connected to the meal after helping me make it. Awesome!

Chocolate Cracker-Cookies

I love those crispy cookies made with crackers that everyone seems to make over the holidays. I have had them with peanut butter and and with almonds and I even made a batch a few years ago with chocolate that turned out a little too... chewy for my liking. But our friend Nathan from church brought some really crispy and nutty ones over on Thanksgiving, and motivated me to try again. So I combined a couple of recipes, added chocolate, and I got a good batch!

And Nathan helped! He helped me line up the crackers and he didn't even sneak any bites. I cannot say the same about his "help" with the chocolate chips.

Disclaimer: this is not healthy, nor does it claim to be.

Chocolate Cracker-Cookies
1 sleeve of your preferred saltine crackers (about 36)
1 and 3/4 sticks of butter or margarine
3/4 cup of light brown sugar (or brown sugar/splenda blend)
1 tsp nut extract (I used black walnut, almond should work well too)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
16 oz semisweet chocolate mini-chips

Preheat oven to 400. Cover a medium-sized cookie sheet with alumnium foil, and spray with non-stick spray. Cut butter into chunks and set over low heat. While butter is melting, line up the crackers on the foil-lined cookie sheet. Once the butter is melted, add in brown sugar and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add nut extract and vanilla, stir. Pour butter mixture over crackers, using a spatula to spread evenly. Bake for 6 minutes. While crackers are in the oven, get the chocolate chips opened up and ready to go. As soon as the crackers come out, pour the chocolate all over the pan. After giving it 20-30 seconds to melt, you should be able to spread the chocolate around evenly with a spatula. Set the whole pan on a cooling rack for a couple of hours, then you can break or cut the cookies apart (any size you want!) and refrigerate until the chocolate gets hard again. Then... enjoy the sweet and salty and crunchy goodness!

About That Giant Rainbow Cupcake...

So I am finally getting around to posting more details about Nathan's birthday cake. Based on the Facebook comments, comments here, and bunches of emails... y'all want more specifics on exactly how I did it.

I'm hoping this is because you all want to make one yourselves, not because you are eyeing me suspiciously and need me to prove that *I* actually made this cake. I promise I did. As proof you can note the burned edges. Everything I bake has burned edges; I'm not so much a baker. We call that cajun style so that I don't feel bad about myself.

Anyway.

First, I should say that I got the idea from Rachel, who is the food editor here. Because she doesn't know me very well (meaning... only online), and therefore doesn't know I'm not a great baker or decorator (did you see last year's cake? case in point), she totally pumped me up and made me feel like I could make my giant cupcake into a rainbowy sprinkly fresh-baked pan of goodness.

The premise is simple: just buy gel food colorings, divide your batter into several different colors, layer, and bake.

The reason it looks neat is because of the gel food colorings, not because of anything special I did.
You can find the gels in the bakery aisle, or in the cake-decorating aisle in the craft section of stores like Target or Wal-Mart or whatever. The kind I got said icing food coloring, but I used it in the batter since I am a rebel like that. Plus it's all I could find. (Note: buy the no-taste-red gel, not the red-red.)

Here's exactly what I did:

1.) Since I had read online that a thicker batter would be easier to prevent the colors running together, I made a white cake mix and "combined" it with the wet ingredients from my grandmother's sour-cream cake recipe instead of following the directions on the box. This means I added 2 eggs, a cup and a half of sour cream, 1/3 cup of milk (I used skim), and 1/4 cup of vegetable oil.

2.) After I mixed up the batter, I chose five colors and divided the batter into bowls. At the time, I was very concerned about making each bowl equal, but then I realized that doesn't really matter, since it's all going back into the same pan. (For normal-sized cupcakes, if you want them to all look alike, you'd need to be more concerned about having equal amounts of each color.)

3.) I put on an apron (those colors get on everything!), then used a toothpick to add a bit of gel to each bowl, then dyed the batter separate color with my cake mixer. Honestly that was the most annoying part of the process -- washing off the mixer after each color. But I was worried it wouldn't blend as well if I mixed it by hand.

4.) I layered half of each color into the cupcake mold's bottom, then the other half into the cupcake mold's top, reversing the color order for when I put the two halves together later. Again -- in hindsight that didn't matter at all. I was also very concerned about spreading each layer evenly into the mold, all the way to the edges. But since the cake changes shape when you bake it (duh, Erin), I could have just dumped them all in there on top of each other for a similar tie-dye effect (just don't stir it, of course).

5.) I baked for about 40 minutes, at 350. Clearly a little too long (note the brown outside). I was following the instructions on the mix box for a bundt pan, but should have gone just shy of that.

6.) When it cooled, I "glued" the two halves together with icing, then iced the top and sprinkled it. I used icing in a can, instead of a tub. It tasted just as good (to me), and it made the cupcake so much prettier than other ways I have iced them in the past. Though clearly I am still not the best at cake decorating, as you can see. :)
7.) Then Mark did the dishes. I think. Wait, maybe I did them. Nah, that doesn't sound like me. Let's assume it was him. :)
8.) Then we ate it. And it turns out Nathan didn't care what it looked like. But Mark and I were pleased with how pretty it was, so that counts for something. Right? ...Right? For more recipes and other people's culinary brilliance, you can head over and visit Rachel herself; it's Mouthwatering Monday!

Three-Minute Sorbet

[Nathan woke up this morning -- yes, after staying with us all night in our bed -- in much better spirits, with his fever pretty much gone. Oh! And he loves me again! Yay! He and Mark are now both napping, and I am cautiously hopeful that things are on the upswing.]

I might have mentioned once or twice that my husband has an obsession with fruity desserts. He's the only grown man I know who will consistently opt for berries or pies or fruity yogurt (yogurt!) over legitimate desserts like chocolate and creamy cakes. (At Starbucks, he chooses apple cider over mocha. Who does that?)

Anyway, because of his love for fruity desserts (especially in summer), and my love of easy, (relatively) healthy recipes with inexpensive ingredients, I wanted to try to make him some sorbet. I found the idea over at this site, but their post wasn't very specific about how much to use of each ingredient, so I had to play around with it to get the consistency right. Here's what I came up with.

Three-Minute Sorbet
16 oz package of frozen berries (any kind)
1/3 c sugar (or splenda)
1 c heavy cream (fat-free is ok), plus extra if needed
1 tsp vanilla (optional)

1.) Add frozen fruit to blender or food processor (do not defrost first) with sugar and cream.
2.) Pulse until fruit is broken up and chunky, then process until smooth.
3.) If it's too icy and won't process down enough, stream in extra cream while blending, until you get to the consistency you want.

It tastes really good straight out of the machine, but it will also keep in the freezer for a week or so (put it in tupperware, or divide servings into ziplock bags).

Bonus: Nathan had so much fun helping with this! Of course I didn't let him do the blending, but I let him dump in the cream after I measured it, and take berries from the bag to toss in as well. He was so excited that he got to "make it for Daddy" and he kept saying so over and over again.

I used a mix of blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, but I guess any berry or combination would work (you might want to use more or less sugar based on the sweetness of the fruits you choose). Fresh berries should work equally well (though not as cheap in most cases), just spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze first.

Happy summer desserting!!

Fantasy Chili

I just have to say that my chili is really good. Like... really good. Not too spicy (but it can be if you want!), kind of sweet, and comes together in thirty minutes if you need it to. We call this Fantasy Chili because our friend Peggy, a housemate from our time in the Netherlands, used to make fantasy casseroles, fantasy pastas, fantasy soups, you name it. It basically just meant she took whatever she had on hand and threw it into a pot. Why she thought fantasy was the right word to describe this process is beyond me. Let's blame it on the fact that was a German student of a Danish university, on foreign study in the Netherlands, hanging out with her English-speaking American friends. And we'll cut her some slack for using weird terminology. Even honor her by using it ourselves.

This is one of Mark's all-time favorite meals. He asks for it before he has to work a lot of shifts in a row, so that he has good leftovers while he's working.

[Side note: he's been known to choose his "favorite" foods based on the leftovers they create. And how well they go with his favorite beverage -- milk. *sigh* Feel free to make fun of him in the comments.]

The beauty of the fantasy part is you can substitute pretty much any ingredient on the list for something you have on hand (or just skip the parts you don't like), and it will still probably come out yummy. Not the same every time, of course, but yummy.

Disclaimer: I don't measure. Ever. So these are estimates. Do what tastes good to you.
2nd Disclaimer: I don't really like peppers and onions, so I use dried. Use real if you like them though.

Fantasy Chili
1 lb ground beef (or turkey - it's a fantasy!)
1 can of diced tomatoes (or rotel, or stewed tomatoes, you get the picture)
1/2 can of tomato sauce (or tomato soup, or ketchup... do I need to do this for every item on the list?)
1 can of kidney beans
2 tbs worcestershire sauce
2 tbs hot sauce (like Frank's or something)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbs dried minced onion
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp steak seasoning (with dried peppers)
2-3 tbs chili powder (seriously, it's the star ingredient)
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tbs brown sugar (we use splenda blend)
3/4 cup beef stock (optional based on time, see below)
ketchup to taste
sour cream
cheddar cheese
minced raw onion, if that's your thing (ew)
yukon gold potatoes, or corn muffins, or tortilla/corn chips

Brown beef in saucepan with w. and hot sauces. As beef is cooking, add dried spices and seasonings, except chili powder. When beef is brown all the way through, add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and kidney beans. If you have an extra 30 minutes, add beef broth and cook down until chili is at your desired thickness. If not, just cook together for 5-10 more minutes. In the last 5 minutes, add brown sugar and ketchup to bring chili to desired sweetness.

Top with sour cream and cheddar cheese (or raw onion if you must). Serve with potatoes or corn muffins or chips, whatever you have on hand.

N&B's Crab Au Gratin

Remember how Barbara made an awesome dinner for us on Mark's birthday? Well I have the recipe now and it's definitely worth sharing. This was so good. You could eat it as an entree, or make half (or a third) of the recipe and serve it with bread as a crab dip appetizer. I'm definitely going to try to make it sometime before the year is out.

Nick and Barbara's Crab Au Gratin
1 stalk celery chopped fine
1 cup onion chopped fine
1 stick butter
2-3 tbsp flour
1 and 3/4 cup half and half
2 egg yolks
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb crab (doesn't have to be fancy jumbo lump, but not imitation either)
1/2 lb grated cheese (pick your favorite kind, I think Barbara used cheddar)

Saute onions and celery in butter until wilted. Blend flour in well. Pour in half and half gradually on low heat, stirring constantly. Add egg yolks, salt, red and black pepper. Cook for five minutes.

Rinse crabmeat and press out excess water. Put crabmeat in to a lightly greased casserole. Pour sauce over the crabmeat and add half the cheese and blend well. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the mixture. Bake at 375 for 15 min. or until light brown.

(Apparently you can add green onions somewhere in there if that sounds good to you, but Barbara didn't do it that way for us.)

Happy crabbing!

Cheesy Sweet Potato Fries

So it turns out that Mark's brother Nick is sort of a culinary genius. I mean, this dish wasn't his idea or anything, but he was the one who was smart enough to copycat the idea at home.

Apparently the cheesy sweet potato fries at Top of the Hill in Chapel Hill are to die for. I know it seems like an odd combination of flavors, but believe me when I say it's really good. Nick made these for us on Father's Day, and then we tried it again this week at home. The directions below are a combination of what we each did. They're definitely not the official TotH version, but just our poor man's imitation. TotH apparently also serves them with a "spicy cajun ketchup" but I have no idea what that entails. The Vagabond Gourmand didn't love the ketchup anyway, so I'm not second-guessing Nick's decision to omit it from his serving platter.

Opening my eyes to this world of sweet potatoey goodness makes me love Nick just a little bit more than I already did (which was kind of a lot, I'll be honest).

Copycat Top of the Hill Sweet Potato Fries (serves 2)
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into thick slices
cooking spray or vegetable oil
2 shallots or 1/2 small onion, minced or grated
1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1/2 cup shredded white cheddar

Preheat oven to 425. Spray large cookie sheet and toss potatoes to coat. Spread potatoes in a single layer and bake for about 15 minutes (depending on size of potato wedges) or until potatoes are soft inside. Remove and transfer potatoes to small baking dish. Top with cheeses and onions, and bake until cheese is melted and bubbly. Enjoy!

And More Recipes...

Kelley's post yesterday made me remember that I have been trying lots of new recipes this year (yep, still once a week), but that I haven't been posting the good ones. Some of them... not so much worth sharing. But there are a couple that have been great!

The pasta bake is a quick (!) casserole - this is a Rachael Ray idea, with some very minor Mark-and-Erin tweaking. We brought it to Jenny and Dan when their daughter was born, and it was a hit. The squash is a good summer side dish for a day when you just don't feel like grilling - and it reheats really well.

And if you want a couple of our all-time favorite side-dishes, follow the links for microwave cheese grits (try it with pepper jack!) and Mark's favorite mac & cheese.

Bacon, Leek, Tomato Pasta Bake
1 lb pasta
8 slices bacon, coarsely chopped
1 large leek
3 tbs butter
3 tbs flour
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
3 cups milk
1 cup chicken stock
3 1/2 cups shredded swiss cheese
1 tbs dijon mustard
1 can diced tomatoes
salt & pepper

Preheat broiler. Cook pasta according to package directions. While it's cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp. While the bacon is cooking, slice the leeks (if you've never done this before, click here). Add drained and dry leeks to bacon pan. Season with salt & pepper. Cook until tender (3-4 minutes).

For the sauce, heat a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Add the butter and melt, then add flour, cayenne, and paprika and whisk together until the roux bubbles; cook for 1 minute longer. Whisk in the milk and stock and raise the heat a little. Bring the sauce to a quick boil and simmer to thicken (about 5 min). Remove from heat and stir in 3 cups of cheese and the mustard; set aside.

Add tomatoes to the leek mixture and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside.

Drain pasta and combine into casserole dish with cheese sauce and leek mixture. (Note: Mark and I found that you can stop at this step, let half the recipe cool, and then freeze it for later, and it works great.) Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and broil until melted.


Squash Casserole
3 lbs yellow squash, sliced
5 tbs butter or margarine
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup lite mayo
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
20 ritz crackers

Cover squash in water in a large skillet, and boil for 8-10 minutes. Drain well (dry between towels).

Melt 4 tbs butter in the skillet; add onion and cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in squash, cheese, and next 4 ingredients. Spoon into a lightly greased baking dish. Melt remaining butter and combine with crackers. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. This is pretty easy to "lighten up" with less butter, egg beaters, and low-fat versions of the other stuff.

African Chicken Peanut Soup

We had a most pleasurable evening with Sarah and Neil this weekend. Since Justin and LeAnn moved back to Millers Creek, and both sets of our neighbor friends have made grand exits in the last 6 months, our contact with non-baby locals our age has been sort of limited. Not that we don't adore the other people in our lives, but it's kind of nice to hang out with people where there's not a big age difference, or whose friendship with us has no bearing on Nathan and his peer group.

So. Not a terribly exciting evening - dinner and wine and chatting. But after an incredibly stressful week, I really needed to laugh... Sarah and Neil are always good for that!

We tried this week's new recipe on them, too... normally we wouldn't do that when we have guests over, but we're sort of past the point where we count them as guests. Y'all, this soup is really good! It has an interesting combination of flavors, and just enough spice to give it a kick. Bonus - all of the ingredients are really cheap, and the whole thing together is fairly healthy, if you're not concerned with sodium (and if you are, just buy the low-sodium versions of these ingredients). AND Mark whipped it together in about 25 minutes (not counting grilling and chopping the chicken).

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup cubed sweet potato
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup diced green (or red - we like red better) pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 tbs)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
2 cups grilled and chopped chicken (or a rotisserie chicken from the store, if that's easier)
1 cup bottled salsa
1/2 tsp cumin
28 oz fat-free chicken broth
2 cans condensed chicken and rice soup
15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tbs cornstarch stirred into 1/2 cup cold chicken broth, set aside

DIRECTIONS:
-Please a large stew pot, coated with cooking spray, over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato, onion, peppers, and garlic, and saute about 5 minutes.
-Stir in chicken, salsa, cumin, broth, soup, and beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
-Add peanut butter and stir until blended. Mash up potatoes to combine. Stir in cornstarch mixture if you desire a thicker soup. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

We served ours with a crusty sunflower seed bread (another thumbs up for Mark), which was really nice. It was a hit. Neil even scraped the bottom and ate it directly from the pot (see why we don't consider them guests anymore?), so I think that's a good sign.

Donna's Mom's Meatloaf

So I am a little behind on posting - I have a bunch of drafts started but I realized I hadn't actually updated in a while.

Remember how I am trying one new recipe per week, as part of my new year's resolutions? (Let's not talk about the others, shall we?) Well, here we are ushering in the new year.

This recipe is from my church cookbook, Bountiful Blessings... From Our Table to Yours, which was one of my Christmas presents this year. (By the way, I always pronounce that last word "yers" like Paula Deen would say it. Just thought you should know.) In the book, this is just called Mom's Meatloaf. But since my normal meatloaf is based on my mom's recipe, I can't call it that. So I'm calling it Donna's Mom's Meatloaf - I know this recipe came from Donna, who is the director of food services at the church (yes, we have one of those), since she made it for an event I attended this fall.

The good news is, it's really easy (no eggs!) and very tasty. I think I would do a little less onion next time, since I don't love onions the way that some people do.

Anyway, here goes:

MEAT:
1.5 lbs lean ground beef, thawed
3 tbs finely chopped onion
1 cup (8 oz) evaporated milk
3/4 cup old fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
salt
pepper

SAUCE:
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
3 tbs cider vinegar
3 tbs chopped onion
1/2 cup water or beef broth
1 cup ketchup
2 tbs sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all meat ingredients together until coated. Do not overmix, or it will cause the meatloaf to be too heavy. Shape into a long loaf in a 9x13 pan. Mix all sauce ingredients together and pour half over meatloaf before baking. Bake for 30 minutes, then pour remaining sauce over meatloaf. Bake for another 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Oh! And I also forgot that I was very creative and made a pumpkin cheesecake - it was also a hit. I got the idea back at Thanksgiving when I saw that Bruegger's was selling pumpkin cream cheese. I figured I'd just buy some of that and follow my normal cheesecake recipe. But when we went to get the cream cheese last weekend, they didn't have it anymore. But I made do.

I should preface this by saying I don't measure much when I make cheesecake (or anything - let's be honest). I have a recipe that I follow, but I sort of eyeball it until the consistency of the batter is right. It doesn't matter, though... contrary to popular belief, cheesecake is really hard to mess up. It's not one of those flour-based things that has to be measured exactly to rise. If you use more or less of any ingredients, you'll just get a cakier or creamier cheesecake. And people like both!

Anyway I think this is pretty close.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

CRUST:
2 cups finely ground graham crackers (30 squares)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
(or you can buy cinnamon grahams and call it a day)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

FILLING:
16 oz cream cheese (low fat is ok, but not no-fat)
3 eggs
about 1/2 to 2/3 can of plain pumpkin
1 cup sugar (or half sugar, half splenda)
about 2/3 pint sour cream (low fat is ok, but not no-fat)
dried lemon peel (or lemon juice, or the zest of one lemon - whatever you have)
1 dash of vanilla
1 dash ground ginger
1 dash allspice
1 dash ground cloves
2 dashes ground cinnamon

1.) preheat oven to 325.
2.) using a fork, combine crust ingredients in a mixing bowl until even moist and crumbly. lightly coat the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan with spray. pour the crumbs into a pan and press them down into the base and up the sides (1 inch or more), using the bottom of a glass. refrigerate until needed.
3.) beat cream cheese and pumpkin together on low speed until smooth and free of lumps. add eggs, 1 at a time, until combined. gradually add sugar and beat until creamy.
4.) add sour cream, lemon, vanilla, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and clove.
5.) set a kettle of water to boil
5.) Pour filling over crust and smooth with a spatula
6.) fold aluminum foil over bottom and sides of springform pan, making a watertight seal
7.) place the springform pan into a roasting pan (well, I use a wok) and our boiling water around it
8.) bake for 1 hour - cheesecake should still jiggle when warm from oven
9.) let cool in pan for 30 minutes, then chill in fridge for 4-24 hours. serve chilled.

Crock Pot Pot Roast

We had our Christmas celebration with Mark's mom yesterday - Nick and Barbara came, too. Nathan opened his first Christmas present! A toy, of course. A mailbox full of crinkly and rattly and fuzzy goodies.

We also got a DVD of some of Mark's home videos when he was a child. Let me tell you how HOT for him I was after I watched him play a recital with his dad on the recorder, him on the flute, and Nick on the triangle. Seriously, who does that? And who OWNS a triangle?? But the videos were fun, to say the least.

We made the pot roast that Mark's colleague Daniel fixed for us a few weeks ago at the Progress Energy dinner. It was actually super-easy and quite tasty. I think this will become a winter favorite around here. Y'all know I love my crock pot.

Crock Pot Pot Roast
boneless beef chuck roast (3-4 lbs)
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 onion, minced
1 can condensed cream of mushroom or tomato soup (I think I'll try tomato next time)
1 tbs vinegar
2 tsp beef bouillon granules (I dumped some beef stock in instead; it's what I had on hand)
2 tsp dried sage leaves, crushed
1/4 tsp pepper

FOR GRAVY:
1/2 cup cold water (I used cold beef broth instead)
1/3 cup flour (I used about 2 tbsp cornstarch instead)

1.) trim excess fat from meat, and place roast in slow cooker (ok to cut to fit). Add celery and onion.
2.) in a separate bowl, stir soup, vinegar, bouillon, sage and pepper together, and pour over roast.
3.) cover and cook 4-5 hours on high, or 9-10 hours on low, until meat is very tender.
4.) raise cooker temperature to high, until liquid is bubbling. in a small bowl, mix gravy ingredients and stir into the boiling liquid around the roast.
5.) serve with mashed potatoes, hash browns, or rice